Overlay services

Control cash, currency, or asset class exposures using systematic risk overlay strategies to reduce daily operational burdens and streamline access to market opportunities.

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Our suite of services The Russell investments advantage Related insights Customised Portfolio Solutions Talk to our team

Russell Investments' seasoned specialists provide you with the expertise and resources to design and implement a customised investment framework to improve the visibility and control of the underlying exposures in your portfolio.

Our comprehensive overlay program brings the resources and experience to help your organisation:

Reduce the
operational burden

Improve portfolio risk/return profile

Lower
transaction costs

Our suite of overlay services

Cash equitisation

Maintain your liquidity and desired market exposure by using derivative overlay strategies to access equity and/or bond exposures. When cash levels change our turnkey management service adjusts those exposures and handles all downstream aspects of managing those positions.

Policy implementation

A disciplined rebalancing plan helps to manage the drift in exposures from your Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) over time. With daily oversight of portfolio positioning, our team manages exposures to asset classes via overlay transactions effectively solving cash drag and rebalancing policy issues simultaneously.

LDI and Dynamic
de-risking

As funded situation improves risk tolerance often reduces. An overlay provides a cost-effective and timely implementation of the new target exposures and achieves the desired asset allocation when market opportunity arises. A common form of such a mandate is an LDI glide path which, systematically implements the asset allocation and hedge ratio changes quickly as targets are met.

Downside risk management

Reduce the magnitude of drawdowns in portfolio value from significant market declines. Russell Investments offers risk management tools to support institutional investors in managing and maintaining their exposure to risk over the long term without bearing the full downside risk of major market corrections.

Why choose Russell Investments as your overlay portfolio management partner?

Six important factors

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Dedicated specialist team

A dedicated portfolio manager with low client-to-portfolio-manager ratio and access to asset class specialist traders

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Flexible approach

Extended capabilities deliver total exposure management with solutions adapted as your portfolio changes and grows

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Continuous coverage

24-hour multi-asset trading: Asset class specialists cover a network of developed and emerging markets

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FX expertise

Protect your portfolio from currency movements using industry-leading FX platform and specialist FX traders

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Customised solutions

Tailored global futures baskets and OTC expertise to better manage risk and seek improved returns

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Robust risk management

Detailed compliance protocols with separated compliance review and agency-only approach

$105.9 B

Managed in overlay services globally

140

Overlay accounts

40+ yrs

Experience in overlay management

Dedicated team members

12 yrs

Average industry experience

Source: Russell Investments. Data as of 31 December 2023 unless otherwise noted.

Tech-enabled client solutions

Our global team of overlay specialists is experienced at tackling the more complex and challenging investment problems facing institutional investors using our proprietary technology and systems:

Proprietary system for aggregating account-level data to enable overlay management

24-hour agency-only global trading desk with specialisation by market segment

Proprietary quantitative systems for managing futures tracking error to customisable benchmarks

Seamless integration of physical and overlay trading via trade order management system for more complex solutions

Russell Investments has been globally recognised for excellence in the investment industry.

We have a proven track record in investment implementation, with scale, client satisfaction, innovative solutions and more than 40 years of experience.

Russell Investments was named the "Factor Investing Offering of the Year" winner at the 2024 European Pensions Awards. The judges praised Russell Investments for its passion and expertise in the factor investing space, as well as its performance and innovation.

In 2023, Russell Investments was globally ranked as one of the top 10 largest managers of factor-based strategies. This ranking is based on worldwide assets under management (AUM) from 58 firms (as of December 31, 2022) in the 2023 Pensions & Investments’ (P&I) "Special Report: Money Managers." In 2024, P&I eliminated this question from their survey.

Pensions & Investments Overlay Services Manager Award

For 20 consecutive years, Russell Investments has maintained its position among the leading U.S. institutional managers of overlay assets from 24 firms (as of December 31, 2023) in the 2024 Pensions & Investments' “Special Report: Money Managers."

Russell Investments was ranked first in multiple categories in The TRADE’s inaugural “Outsourced Trading Survey” published November 2023 (out of 14 providers), receiving four perfect scores in: Client service and relationship management; Onboarding; Business model and other factors; and Cost versus value for money.¹

View all of our awards

¹ Source: The TRADE. (2023, November). “The Outsourced Trading Handbook 2023: Outsourced Trading Survey” Issue 77 Supplement, p.27.

² Based on business activities ending December 31, 2021. Recipient winners were invited to the publication’s awards ceremony, in which we purchased an event table and received licensing usage rights of the award logo/badge.

We paid the following publications a fee for licensing usage rights of the award logo/badge: Pensions & Investments (P&I), and THE TRADE.

RUSSELL RESEARCH

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